The dire prediction was in response to a recent comment from Russian President Vladimir Putin. "Artificial intelligence is the future not only of Russia but of all of mankind," Putin said. "Whoever becomes the leader in this sphere will become the ruler of the world."

But Musk believes others will try to catch up by any means possible. "Govts don't need to follow normal laws," he said in one tweet. "They will obtain AI developed by companies at gunpoint, if necessary."

Musk has tried to address his AI anxieties through two new ventures: OpenAI, a non-profit AI research company, and Neuralink, a startup building devices to connect the human brain with computers.

"I was trying to really sound the alarm on the AI front for quite a while, but it was clearly having no impact," he said in one interview around the launch of Neuralink. "So I was like, 'Oh fine, okay, then we'll have to try to help develop it in a way that's good.' "